Karnataka CM Yeddyurappa rescinds transfer orders

Bangalore: Implementing another condition of
the truce deal with the dissidents, Karnataka Chief Minister B
S Yeddyurappa on Tuesday rescinded the transfer of some officials,
two weeks after they were shunted out by him to strike at the
rebels gunning for his removal.

The decision comes after V P Baligar, Principal Secretary
to the Chief Minister, was shifted and Yeddyurappa`s
confidante Shobha Karandlaje was made to resign from the
Ministry as part of the compromise formula worked out by the
party leadership on Sunday to end the two week-long impasse.

The earlier transfer of officials had angered the rebel
leaders -- Tourism Minister Janardhana Reddy and Revenue
Minister Karunakara Reddy and their close associate Health
Minister B Sreeramulu -- who had stepped up their dissident
activities, casting the shadow of instability over the first
ever BJP government in the South.

Dr N V Prasad, a trusted IAS official of Sreeramulu, is
back as Deputy Commissioner of Gadag. Prasad was earlier
transferred as Dharwad Zilla Panchayat CEO after differences
between Yeddyurappa and Reddy brothers and Sreeramulu widened.

B Shivappa, a confidant of Janardhana Reddy and
Karunakara Reddy, has also returned to his earlier posting as
Deputy Commissioner of Bellary. Yeddyurappa had moved him to
Bidar.

Yeddyurappa also ordered for transfer of Harsha Gupta as
Deputy Commissioner of Shimoga, his home district, from
Bellary from where the mining magnates Reddy brothers hail.

The Chief Minister, who managed to weather the worst-ever
political crisis in the last 18 months since BJP came to
power, today set out on a visit to temples to propitiate Gods.

He offered pooja at Chamundeswari temple in Mysore where
he also participated in "chandika homa" and at M M Hills in
Chamarajanagara district.

Under the compromise formula, Yeddyurappa is also
required to recast his ministry and re-allocate portfolio in
the coming days, according to party sources.